"While this album is quite well crafted and, at times, very catchy, it gets fairly plain and doesn’t really shine as a unique experience."

Formed from members of the doom metal band Mood, Wall of Sleep is a Sabbath influenced stoner metal band from Hungary. Their third full length release, “…And Hell Followed With Him,” is a typical stoner metal album. Making the most of the down tuned, crunchy guitar work, southern riffing, and vocals that sound like Dio himself, the band has done fairly well in the genre. While this album is quite well crafted and, at times, very catchy, it gets fairly plain and doesn’t really shine as a unique experience.

From the beginning of the album, the band’s riffs are groovy and crispy. The band makes use of higher melodic leads (notably in “Buried 1000 Times” and “November”), complementing the lower range very well. The solos are particularly well done and don’t ruin the slow, chugging feel of the album as a whole. The lyrical structure utilizes a very anthem-y structure (“Signs” is a good example of this). It definitely makes the songs very catchy, but does get a little old.

The main issue I have with “…And Hell Followed With Him” is the fact that the music gets somewhat bland somewhere along the line. The band has all the right ingredients for this kind of music and shows that they know how to play it, but some tracks seem to be missing something. "November," for example, begins with a really well done melodic riff, but ends up being just another stoner metal song, while “Signs” and “Buried 1000 Times” are quite catchy and considerably entertaining listens. I also think this album is just a little too long.

Overall, Wall of Sleep know what they are doing in the stoner metal genre and “…And Hell Followed With Him” is definitely not a bad album. I would recommend this to fans of the genre, but not as something that hasn’t been done before.

Highs: Catchy, groovy stoner metal with melodic leads that complement the down tuned guitar work perfectly.

Lows: Gets a little bland.

Bottom line:While skillfully fashioned and soundly fitting to the stoner metal genre, this album doesn't bring anything that we haven't heard before.